Trying to understand how winget export works with additional dsc ressources.

[Stephanevg]

Hi,

I was simply trying to export my vscode setup together with the list of extensions I have installed.

This is basically what I am doing.

install-module vscode
winget configure export --Package-Id Microsoft.VisualStudioCode -o .\VsCodeExport.winget --module vscode --resource vscodeextension

And this is what the file VsCodeExport.winget looks like

# Created using winget configure export 1.12.350
# yaml-language-server: $schema=https://aka.ms/configuration-dsc-schema/0.3
$schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PowerShell/DSC/main/schemas/2023/08/config/document.json
metadata:
  winget:
    processor:
      identifier: "dscv3"
resources:
- name: winget_Microsoft.VisualStudioCode
  type: Microsoft.WinGet/Package
  metadata:
    description: "Install Microsoft.VisualStudioCode"
  properties:
    id: "Microsoft.VisualStudioCode"
    source: "winget"
    

I am missing the vscode extension part. I am unsure if I am doing something wrong, is that actually supported, or if there is a bug.

Unfortunatly, I couldn't find that many ressources on winget export :(

[denelon]

There are only a few DSC v3 resources. Most resources are DSC v2 (PowerShell Class-Based Modules). The Visual Studio Code DSC resources are the v2 type, so there isn't a way to "export" from those resources today.

We did some extra work to have the ability to export the Windows Settings using a v2 module. The goal is to have them all available as v3 resources in the future, but there is no ETA for that at present.

In the case of Visual Studio Code, there isn't a way to have WinGet export the installed extensions.

It might be worth taking a look at WinGet Studio. With that, you can explore resources and see a bit more about how they behave. You can use the "get" verb that is supported with v2 resources and in some cases, you'll be able to retrieve the collection of settings/properties available to build a configuration.

[denelon]

The "export" method is only available in some v3 resources.

If you have any installed via packages, you can see what they support by running dsc resource list. A few of the v2 resources we've implemented have a generic "setting" that you can run "get" on, and for those you will get the logical equivalent of "export".

Microsoft.Windows.Settings/WindowsSettings is one of those.

If you use the "Validate a resource" tool in WinGet Studio, you can load that resource up and call "Get" on it.

Below is an example:

[denelon]

Any packages installed on the system with support for DSC v3 (with support for export declared) will have the ability to export their settings. WinGet has a few v3 resources as well as wingetcreate, oh-my-posh (the packaged MSIX version), PowerToys, and WinGet Studio.

Calling export on those individually via WinGet requires knowing the resource name, and in some cases, even that isn't going to yield the exact results you may be looking for. We're still actively working on the implementation as well as the evolution of DSC v3. That's one of the primary reasons we built WinGet Studio. The goal is to lower the barriers to entry for building configurations and understanding how the device is currently configured.